


A Kiss From a Rose

by xsilverdreamsx



Series: Yellow Rose [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Birthday Fluff, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-18
Updated: 2013-06-18
Packaged: 2017-12-15 10:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/848279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsilverdreamsx/pseuds/xsilverdreamsx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a single yellow rose, with a ribbon tied around the stalk. Attached to the stalk is a folded piece of note paper, with Kise’s name on the front, and inside it is a birthday greeting--</p><p>And it's sent anonymously.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Kiss From a Rose

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Kise's birthday (yes I write in celebration of the birth of fictional characters don't judge me) on 6/18.

It’s well after basketball practice, and they’re just about to close and lock up the doors to the basketball court when Kasamatsu brings up the topic, out of the blue.

“So I hear that your birthday is next week?” Kasamatsu says to Kise. ”Planning anything big to celebrate it?”

“My parents want to treat me to restaurant dinner,” Kise answers, pouting a little. His parents had insisted on a dinner; even his sisters had been thrilled at the idea. Kise wonders if it’s not too late to convince them to have a party, maybe just a small one.

He glances at Kasamatsu slyly. “Does this mean I get to miss practice next week-- _ow_!” he yelps, rubbing his ear.

“Nice try, but no,” Kasamatsu replies, giving no indication that he had just flicked at Kise’s ear.

“Senpai--”

“You’re our star player, Kise, but we still work as a _team_ ,” Kasamatsu tells him sternly. “So that means no, you can’t skip practice. Even if it’s on your birthday.”

“Besides, I’m pretty sure you’ll be getting a lot of presents that day anyway,” he adds dryly, referring to Kise’s fanclub.

Kise grimaces. Being as perceptive as ever, Kasamatsu catches sight of his expression. “What’s with that face? I thought you liked getting gifts from them?”

“Ah, it’s just that... “ Kise hesitates, not wanting to sound ungrateful. “It’s just that the gifts they get me are really expensive. It’ll be nice if they gave me something simple. Or even a card.” He laughs awkwardly. “I know this probably sounds weird to you, but after getting the kind of toy or chocolates all the time, it can get a little boring.”

In response, Kasamatsu snorts, sounding unconvinced.

Kise grins at him. “What about _you_ , senpai? Are you going to get me anything?” he jokes, knowing full well that Kasamatsu would react to such a comment.

And as expected, Kasamatsu _does_ react. By elbowing him in the ribs. “Don’t push it, freshman. The only present you’ll be getting from me that day is extra laps around the gym.”

Kise gives him a horrified look. “ _What_ , that’s not fair--” he wails.

He swears that he sees Kasamatsu’s lips twitching as he tries to hold back a smile, but before he can say anything further, Kasamatsu orders him to start locking the doors.

He doesn’t think about their conversation after that. At least, not until a week later.

*

“Happy birthday, Kise-kun!”

Kise grants the girl standing in front of him his most dazzling smile, as he accepts the daintily wrapped gift box that she’s holding out towards him. He thanks her, and watches her blush and scuttle off, a bright smile on her face.

It’s only the first period, but he’s already received several birthday gifts (and numerous greetings) the minute he had strolled into the school grounds. Two girls from different school had been waiting at the gates, all blushing and stammering out their birthday greetings to him while handing him their presents.

That had taken up some of his time, so he had been in a hurry when he had almost crashed into Kasamatsu walking in the corridor outside his classroom. His captain had frowned at him, but Kise had managed to avoid getting yelled at by ducking into his class.

Sliding into his seat, Kise discovers a pile of gifts, with paper hearts and glitter and ribbons adorning the small greeting cards stuck onto them. However, one gift stands out amongst the colourful collection, unexpected and not something he’s received before.

A single yellow rose, with a ribbon tied around the stalk. Attached to the stalk is a folded piece of note paper, with Kise’s name on the front, and inside it is a birthday greeting --

And it's sent anonymously.

Curiously, Kise studies the note. The handwriting is neat and almost uniformed, except for the way the letters ‘g’ and ‘f’ looped oddly. It looks familiar, as if he had seen this handwriting before, but the vague memory keeps eluding him. On top of that, whoever had left the rose had also written an odd assortment of numbers at the back of the note, which stirred his curiosity further.

He’s still staring at the flower minutes later when the other students begin to pile into the room. “Something from one of your secret admirers again, Kise?” his classmate, Ryo, teases as he slides into his own seat next to Kise.

Kise blushes and tries to hide the note, but Ryo is faster and snatches it from him.

“Aww, cute,” Ryo says mockingly. He flips the note to the back. “Hey, she left you her number too?”

“It’s not a phone number,” Kise retorts, snatching the note back and tucking it into his pocket for safekeeping. “I know I’ve seen those sequence of digits before, but I can’t remember _where_.”

Ryo yawns, looking bored. “Well, whoever it is, she’ll probably confess to you by the end of the day.”

Before he can reply to Ryo sarcastically, they’re interrupted by the sensei entering the room. The rest of the morning goes by fast, but Kise’s attention is half-focused on it, as he stares at the rose on his desk, wondering who had left it for him.

Kise is so caught up with more people approaching him to greet him and trying to answer his text messages at the same time (his old teammates from Teikou had sent him several birthday messages, including a picture of a half-eaten cake from Murasakibara), that he almost misses the bell signifying their break. Hurrying out of the classroom, he nearly bumps in someone who’s standing outside in the corridor and it’s only with his basketball reflexes that he catches the other person in his arms before they accidentally smack their head against the wall..

It takes him half a second to realize that he’s nearly knocked over Kasamatsu for the second time that day.

“S-s-empai,” he utters out, feeling a sense of dread as his basketball team captain glares at him. “senpai, are you okay?”

“I would be if you weren’t trying to suffocate me,” Kasamatsu mutters.

Startled, Kise releases his hold on Kasamatsu, and takes a step back.

“Crap, I’m sorry, senpai, I wasn’t... I didn’t mean to--”

Kasamatsu gives him an odd look. “Calm down, freshman. I’m fine.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Isn’t it your break time now?”

“Ah, yeah, I was just headed out--” He can see Ryo further down the corridor, gesturing at Kise impatiently.

Waving him off, Kasamatsu says, “I’ll see you at practice later.” He takes a few steps towards the direction of the teacher’s lounge, before pausing to turn around again. “Oh, and Kise. Happy birthday.”

Kise stares at him. “T-t-thank you.” He’s about to say more when Ryo yells his name, and Kasamatsu gives Kise a light shove. “Go on, or you’ll miss the special in the canteen today.”

As Kise runs off towards Ryo, he can hear Kasamatsu bellowing at him, “And don’t be late for practice!”

*

When Kise gets back to the classroom, there’s another gift on his table. This time, it’s a small jar, filled with folded paper stars. A yellow ribbon is tied around it, and a familiar note is stuck on top of the lid.

As he suspects, it’s unsigned.

Kise sits down, deep in thought. He’s had gifts sent to him anonymously before; fangirls who were too shy to approach him, or too embarrassed to show that they were interested in him. But there’s something about the way this person is sending him gifts that seem so _ordinary_ and simple, yet he’d rather have them than a hundred expensive gifts from anyone else.

Kasamatsu’s face appears in his thoughts briefly, and he almost chokes on his laughter. He quickly covers it up with a fake cough when the teacher turns around to frown at the noise.

As nice as it would have been to have received those gifts, or any gift for that matter, from Kasamatsu, Kise knows for a fact that it’s nothing more than wishful thinking. Beyond the simple admiration for the hardworking, serious captain, Kise _likes_ Kasamatsu, regardless of his aggressive nature and all his frowns. Perhaps even more than what’s appropriate, considering that his thoughts lately have been accompanied by a sense of longing - to hold and touch and to even kiss those frowns away.

Kise sighs. With the number of times Kise had not-so-subtly flirted with him, Kasamatsu had to be either incredibly _dense_ , or just plain straight to not react in any way. Somehow, the same charm that had always worked on all his fans before had zero effect on Kasamatsu.

No, the person sending these gifts isn’t Kasamatsu, Kise tells himself firmly. No matter how much he wishes for it.

For the rest of the day, Kise resigns himself to looking out the window, while twirling the rose with his fingers, wondering who had given it to him.

*

Kise makes it to basketball practice with two minutes to spare, and thankfully, Kasamatsu doesn’t follow through with his threat to make him run extra laps around the court.

The rest of the team, however, refuses to show him any mercy, making him carry extra two basketballs - “it’s a birthday _tradition_ , even Kasamatsu did it with _three_ in his arms last year” - while making him run laps. By the time practice is over, he collapses onto the bench, while the other seniors grin and hand him a bag of chocolates they had put pitched in together to purchase for him.

Moriyama claps him on the shoulder and reminds him to call him if he needs help picking up girls now that he’s older, while Kasamatsu rolls his eyes and sends everyone home.

*

It’s only when they’re walking towards the train station that Kise remembers the two odd gifts he had received. The entire day, no one has approached him and confessed to having left those for him, so he’s no closer to figuring out who had sent those gifts.

Suddenly Kasamatsu stops walking, causing Kise to halt in his footsteps as well. Swearing, he begins to dig through his pockets, as if looking for something.

“What’s wrong, senpai?”

“My phone.” He swore again. “I took it out earlier to take a few photos during practice.” He shifts the file that he’s been holding against his chest onto the other arm, and unzips his bag.

A piece of paper flutters onto the ground. Curious, Kise kneels down to pick it up.

“What’s this?”

Kasamatsu pauses, in the midst of still rummaging through his bag, and glances briefly at the sheet that Kise has in his hand. “Some strategies I drew up with Coach yesterday. He thinks that we might get an upper hand in the upcoming tournament if we add them to our gameplay.” He continues looking for his phone, grumbling about his carelessness.

Kise stares at the numbers and lines, all of which he now recognizes is in Kasamatsu’s neat, concise handwriting. There’s that unusual loop the Kasamatsu does with his ‘g’s and his ‘f’s that Kise has seen before - during their basketball practices when he sketches on the drawing board - and earlier today, on the two handwritten notes he had received in class.

The paper is deftly plucked out of his hands. “I was planning to bring this up today, but I guess the team was a little too excited with your birthday celebration.” Kasamatsu’s eyes soften slightly, and there’s a fondness in the tone of his voice.

It takes him several seconds before he notices that Kise is still staring at him. “What?” he asks, giving Kise a suspicious look. “Is there something wrong with the strategy?”

Kise thinks back to when he had found Kasamatsu outside his classroom during break. It made sense now. All this time he had been thinking that his gift had been from girl; it hadn’t occurred to him that it could have easily been a _boy_.

“senpai, that was you, wasn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

Kise reaches into the paper bag that contains all of the gifts that he had been given today, and gently lifts out the yellow rose. He holds it up in front of Kasamatsu’s face. “This. You left it on my desk this morning.”

Kasamatsu’s face turns pale. His eyes widen for a split second, then he recovers and gives Kise a blank look. “A flower? You’re mistaken, Kise. It’s probably from one of your fangirls. They give you a lot of presents don’t they?” He’s talking a little too fast, avoiding Kise’s stare by pretending to focus on re-arranging the sheets in his notepad.

Kise tugs the notepad out of his hands. “Wait, Kise--” Kasamatsu sounds frantic, but Kise ignores him. He pulls out a loose sheet containing Kasamatsu’s notes, comparing the neat handwriting on it against the handwriting on the two notes he had placed aside in his pocket.

They match _perfectly_.

“It was bothering me all day, the numbers at the side here.” Kise holds up the note for Kasamatsu to see, pointing out the set of numbers written on the back, resembling the set in Kasamatsu’s sheet. “Now I realize that these are the numbers for our jerseys.” He hands the sheets and the notepad back to Kasamatsu. “When I ran into you during our break, you were trying to leave the second gift for me, weren’t you?”

“I thought you left the room with the other students. I didn’t expect you to _still_ be inside the classroom.”

“Why didn’t you just give them to me?” Kise bursts out, exasperated, but he’s interrupted by Kasamatsu’s bark of nervous laughter.

“Kise... guys... we don’t give each other presents--”

“You gave me this.” Kise observes the rose in his hand. It’s now a little wilted, having been kept in his bag all day. “And then a jar of paper stars? I wouldn’t have figured you to be a closet romantic, Kasamatsu-senpai.” Kise grins.

“Shut up. I wasn’t trying to be _romantic_.” Kasamatsu looks slightly pissed, but his cheeks and ears are bright red as he keeps his eyes casted down, pretending to study a stray rock on the path.

“Then what were you doing, senpai? Why did you send me those gifts?” Kise asks, taking a step closer. Kasamatsu doesn’t move away, so he takes that as a positive sign, moving closer with another step, and then another, until he’s standing right front of Kasamatsu, with barely a few inches of space between them.

“You told me that you were tired of getting the same thing from everyone. And I wanted to give you something _different_ , that you would remember.” With a start, Kise recalls the conversation he had had with Kasamatsu last week.

Kise grins. “Does that mean you like me?”

Kasamatsu doesn’t answer him, but the way his face turns an even darker shade of red is enough of a confirmation for Kise.

He’s not sure what spurs him into movement, but without thinking, Kise cups Kasamatsu’s chin, tilting his head up slightly.

The anger has faded from his eyes, replaced by a different look - one that Kise has seen in all the faces of the girls who have confessed to him before. Kasamatsu looks _terrified_ , as if he’s afraid that Kise will reject him, or even worse, mock him.

Except that Kise’s not planning to.

“Can I kiss you, Kasamatsu?” Kise asks hesitantly. With the skittish way that Kasamatsu’s acting right now, he could very well kick Kise in the shins than let Kise kiss him, which he _really_ doesn’t want happening.

His heart is beating so loudly in his ears that he’s pretty sure that Kasamatsu can hear it too.

After a few long seconds, Kasamatsu answers. “Yes.” His voice is trembling slightly, while the expression on his face is nervous and uncertain and all Kise wants to do, right now, is to kiss that look away.

And so he does.

*

Kise can still feel the lingering taste of Kasamatsu’s lips, sweet and perfect, on his own.

They're sitting in the corner of the train, away from prying eyes. Occasionally the swaying motion of the train would send their shoulders to brushing against each other, and Kise would try to control the grin on his face while Kasamatsu distractedly hummed a song.

A thought suddenly occurs to Kise. “Ah, I’ve just remembered something, senpai."

The humming paused. “What is it?”

“The yellow rose you gave. Doesn’t the color signify friendship?” Kise has been wondering about it ever since he first saw it. “Not exactly something you give someone you like.”

“You know, Kise, for such a bright person, you can be really dense,” Kasamatsu says fondly, his words lacking any malice. One hand reaching up to brush Kise’s hair aside, tucking it behind his ear. Kise leans into his touch, relishing in the warmth.“To me, the color reminds me of you.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Seal's "Kiss From a Rose" (seriously I have no originality with titles I'm sorry)
> 
> **Disclaimer:** Characters are not mine, am playing in the sandbox, etc etc.


End file.
